Good morning, 

A lot of big news today, but I lead with a reminder to our friends who relocated to Texas from California about what they left behind. Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing a $13+ billion property tax cut.

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Rainbows And Unicorn Farts

• Late last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced his failed state would ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Figures, right?
      
• As it turns out, the Commonwealth of Virginia and a dozen other “states” are no longer sovereign, but vassals to California. A year ago, Democrat legislators (of course) bound Virginia’s laws on environmental regs to the laws of California. Therefore, Virginia is also going to be phasing out gas-powered cars by 2035, without their lawmakers ever taking an actual vote to do so. Same goes for a dozen other states that, in a fit of leftwing groupthink, have shackled their policies to those of the fruits and nuts on the left coast.
            
• Now, a funny thing has happened. Yesterday morning, the State of California sent a desperate plea out: citizens with electric cars were urged to unplug them, due to fears of pending blackouts.
        
• As it turns out, you cannot power a state on rainbows and unicorn farts.

Abbott Pushes $13+ Billion Tax Cut

• With the state expected to have a $27 billion surplus when lawmakers gather in January for the next legislative session, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is laying claim to half the money for property tax relief.
      

• “Because this is your money, I want to return at least HALF of that money to you with the largest property tax cut ever in the history of Texas,” the governor said on Wednesday.
     

• This represents the first substantive proposal from the governor on how to use the surplus dollars. Earlier this summer, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pegged property tax relief at around $4 billion. Today he told Texas Scorecard he is ready to see a much higher number – and thinks it could be more than half the surplus.
     

• “Bottom line is that property tax relief will come first,” said Patrick.

Grassroots Activists Score Victory Over Leftist TEKS

• The planned rewrite of the state’s social studies standards has been delayed until 2025, scoring a major victory for conservatives against the hard-left turn the State Board of Education had been considering. Sydnie Henry has the story. The SBOE had planned to vote on the radically redrafted Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills this November.
      
• The win was not without drama. When a motion was made to delay the TEKS rewrite, five Democrats left the room so they wouldn’t have to be counted. The motion passed 7-2. SBOE members Will Hickman (R–Houston) and Ruben Cortez Jr. (D–Brownsville) voted against the motion. Hickmam said he did not “see the need to postpone” the rewrite.
            
• Apparently Mr. Hickman wasn’t listening to the same public testimony everyone else had been hearing…
        
• Parents and activists, like Leigh Wambsgans, worked alongside grassroots organizations (such as the True Texas Project, Grassroots America – We The People, Jaco Booyens Ministries, and Apollos in Education) to oppose the leftwing takeover of the state’s social studies curriculum. Their efforts, in turn, drew the attention of the Texas House Freedom Caucus, which promised swift action by lawmakers in 2023.
     
• Among other things, the rewrite would have put new emphasis on worldwide LGBTQ “pride” issues while de-emphasizing Texas history. 
     
• The SBOE still, though, must revise the current social studies TEKS to align with Senate Bill 3, the so-called “ban” on critical race theory. That must happen before the end of the year.

• Count the state’s oldest and largest teacher union as VERY displeased by the SBOE’s actions. The Texas State Teachers Association, which is affiliated with the National Education Association, issued a stern rebuke of the SBOE and the parents who spoke out. 
     
• TSTA President Ovidia Molina derided parents as “extremists” who were causing “teacher morale” to plummet.

House GOP Leadership Censors Child Gender Transition Info 

• While the GOP-controlled Texas House routinely allows Democrats to publish incendiary press releases on a litany of their favored causes, the chairman of the House Administration Committee – Rep. Will Metcalf (R-Montgomery) – is refusing to allow a Republican to post a press release about medical schools teaching child gender transition procedures.
       
• Katie Drollinger reports State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) tried to post the results of his research into state medical schools teaching the practice. He was forbidden from doing so by Metcalf.
      
• An appointee of Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), Metcalf refused to publish the press release on the Texas House website because Slaton referred to the medical procedures as “abhorrent,” “harmful,” and “barbaric.”
     
• As an example, Slaton pointed to a June 2022 press release that Metcalf published to the House website by State Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) slamming Texas’ abortion trigger law. 
     

• The Texas GOP’s grassroots delegates voted during their June convention to make banning child gender modification a 2023 legislative priority.
     

• “It is absolutely pathetic that a GOP-controlled chamber is censoring GOP reps trying to bring awareness to these barbaric instances of child abuse.” – Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi

Investigated By School And Returned To Classroom… Then Arrested For Sex Crimes

• A middle school teacher in Allen ISD has been arrested and charged with two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. As Erin Anderson reports, this teacher had previously been reported to the school district.
        
• The teacher, identified as Anthony Mattei, had been investigated by the school district, but was then allowed to go back into the classroom. Now that he has been arrested, the school district has placed him on administrative leave.
       
• Mattei was hired by Allen ISD last year. He served as a member of the Fairview Town Council from 2018 to 2020.

More Counties Pass Resolutions On Border Invasion, Yet One Refuses

• Close to two dozen Texas counties have passed resolutions calling the situation at Texas’ southern border an invasion and urging Gov. Greg Abbott to do likewise. But, as Sydnie Henry reports, the GOP-dominated Hood County commissioners refused to do so last week.
       
• Two commissioners voted for the resolution, while two others and the county judge – Ron Massingill – opposed it. Nannette Samuelson, who will take office as a commissioner in January, told Texas Scorecard she was shocked by the vote: “I just thought for sure this would be a 5-0 vote, so I didn’t even sign up to speak about it.”
       
• Those counties that have taken local action and declared an invasion include: Kinney, Goliad, Terrell, Parker, Wise, Edwards, Atascosa, Presidio, Tyler, Live Oak, Rockwall, Johnson, Wilson, Hardin, Chambers, Ellis, Orange, Liberty, and Kerr.

El Paso DEMs Join Abbott In Busing Illegal Aliens To NYC

• Primarily run by Democrats, the City of El Paso has begun chartering buses to send illegal aliens to New York in a move mirroring Gov. Greg Abbott. For the details, check out Emily Wilkerson’s article.
   

• According to Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino, the buses provide safety to the illegal aliens and preserve the community’s transitory shelter capacities for the homeless population.
     

• Like Gov. Abbott’s program, El Paso’s busing of illegal aliens is voluntary and something the city has been doing routinely – though the NYC trip is new.
     
• “The trip to New York City was specific to a group of individuals who asked for transportation to New York City. This group had no sponsors, so the City of El Paso and OEM offered and sponsored their transportation,” said Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino. 

Kambree On Vaccine Mandates

• On the latest episode of The Kambree Show, Kambree Nelson is joined by Rebecca Hardy of Texans for Vaccine Choice to talk about the state of medical freedom in the Lone Star State. They talk about vaccine mandates and what lawmakers can do to protect citizens.

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